Photography, Travel, Literature, Nonsense

“911, What is the address of your emergency?”

When I decided to go back to University to get my Masters I
told Aaron that I didn’t really have a plan. In saying this I meant, more so,
that I wasn’t sure what the end goal was outside of getting a Master’s degree. I
understand how reckless and naïve that sounds but I didn’t want to bind myself
to an idea of how everything was going to work out. Instead, I planned to just,
not plan, enjoy the ride, and see where this journey took me. Thank goodness my
husband has a world of patience with me and quite literally never questions me
when I tell him my plans (…or lack thereof).

As part of my MA, I need to conduct fieldwork. In the little
planning that I actually did commit to, this is on the list. I had planned to
go to the Amazon to conduct sensory fieldwork as part of my research hours. In
fact, I was supposed to be there, complaining amount the humidity and
mosquitoes, right about now.

This is where my decision not to make plans began to fall
apart…

I had told myself I was going to start looking for work when
I returned home from fieldwork. And for those of you who know me well, it’s
probably at this moment that you’re asking, “But what about photography!?!”
While I’ve never really openly shared these details publically, in all the
years I’ve been doing photography, I have never intended to do photography for
the rest of my life.

I personally don’t feel photography is a career many people
can successfully grow old with (at least I had never envisioned that path for
myself) and I’ve always known that it would be an ‘until someday’ career for me.
And, when I decided to go back to school, I had always thought that ‘until
someday’ would be right around the time I was getting ready to defend my
thesis. Don’t get me wrong, I will, 100%, absolutely always do photography.
Always. I LOVE photography, and that’s a huge reason why I don’t want to do it
forever as a career. I never want to get to a point where I fall out of love
with photography and lose the passion I have for it. It makes my creative soul
so embarrassingly happy that I can’t imagine a life without photography in it. I’m
committed to my current clients and I’ll continue to take clients for as long
as they want me. And, when the day comes that my inbox is empty and new
notifications have gone silent, I’ll still continue creating creative work
because it’s something I need to do. I’m just at a point in my life where I
need to take a few steps back from the full-time freelance life.

Remember when I said photography would be an ‘until someday’
for me? Well, that ‘day’ came a little sooner than I anticipated… Back in early
October 2018 I randomly started browsing jobs online. I have no idea why as I
had told myself this wasn’t something I was even going to consider looking into
until after fieldwork. But, minutes in, I saw that the Emergency Services
Centre was hiring for a Communication Specialist position (aka answering 911
calls and dispatching emergency services for Southern Saskatchewan). I got so
excited and within seconds I had my heart set on getting the position. I
applied and a few hours later I received a response asking if I would be
interested in coming to an information night later that week. I went to their
event, took a few tests, and then waited. Eventually I received a call back,
asking if I would come in for three more tests. I blocked that evening off in
my planner, started studying, and around two weeks after the information night,
I went in, with around 10 other people to write more exams.

Now, you probably aren’t going to believe me if I describe
the remaining steps of this process to you, as it was a wild ride that went on
for weeks. I went in numerous times for a variety of tests and exams, sat in on
an observation shift, and survived a panel interview. By the time all of these
steps were complete it was Christmas and on December 21st I received
an email stating that they were still doing background checks on me and looking
into my references, but the Commander of the Communication Centre wanted to
have a meeting with me in the New Year.

I was excited and terrified. I hoped this meant I did well
on my interview and that they wanted to discuss the job with me but I also
didn’t want to get my hopes up because I wanted this job badly and was already
emotionally invested in what this entire process was, hopefully, leading up to.
I had already envisioned myself studying throughout the training process,
proudly wearing the uniform, excitedly telling everyone about this new endeavor
I was pursuing. I wanted to talk about this entire process SO badly, but with
the exception of an incredibly small group of people, my nail tech being one of
them (Hi Suzanne!), I haven’t said a word.

Until now! I can finally tell you, I’ve proudly accepted a
position and will begin training February 25. I’m eager to be the best I can be
in this position and help my community through some of their hardest moments. I
truly don’t intend this to sound cheesy, but I am so excited to be able to do
work that’s important, work that matters, and help people in need.

This position is shift work, which I’m sure many turn their
nose up to, but I’m not a Monday-Friday, 9-5 type of person so shift work is
perfect for me. Also, the way the rotations work, I’ll still be able to do
photography on the side and I truly couldn’t ask for anything better than that.
I obviously won’t be able to share many details about the position here, but
I’ll happily share what I am able to in regards to the changes it means for me
and my family and what this shift in careers is like as I go through the
process. If there’s anything anyone is curious about or if you have questions,
please just leave me a comment and I’ll respond to those I’m able to!

Here’s to new beginnings!

P.S. – that fieldwork I’m supposed to be conducting right
now, I’ve postponed it until next year around this time so that I’m able to
full commit to this new position and training. There’s a part of me that’s sad
to extend the wait to explore the Amazon, but this position will hopefully be
one I’m in for a very long while so in the scheme of things, waiting another
year is more than ok with me.

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4 thoughts on ““911, What is the address of your emergency?””

Congratulations Ali…..so happy for you. The fact that your so excited to start something new in your life warms my heart to no end. Nobody works harder than you in anything you take on and I know you will be VERY successful in this new endeavour. I hope this turns out to be exactly what you want it to be as a future in helping others. From someone who has done a little work with emergency response please be sure to take care of yourself first and foremost. When you do this only then can you help others and stay well for yourself and your family. Many warm hugs and congratulations.

Thank you SO much for your kind words! I promise I’ll do everything I can to take the best care of myself, first and foremost. They have a really good plan that allows for therapy and things like that too so I’ll definitely utilize that as well as needed. I want to succeed in this role so I’m definitely going to do my best to take care of myself so that I’m able to do my job well. Thank you again and big hugs to you too!